Greyscale Manifest
by EpicSmiley12
Summary: It lives in us all, but we just can't see it.
1. Prologue

**Hey all you people. Okay, this story is a little dark, so beware.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alvin and the Chipmunks in any way, shape or form.**

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><p><strong>It's a theif in the night to come and grab you.<br>It can creep up inside you and consume you.  
>A disease of the mind, it can control you...<br>~Disturbia, by Rhianna**

They say it comes from the mind's grey area…

They say that everyone possesses one…

It is clearly visible, yet you are blind to it…

Why do you do such foolish things?

Why do you wake yourself, when you are destined to continue dreaming?

Is understanding not that which you wish for?

You cannot understand; you have no right to.

Be still now, my child…

It is emerging once again…

There it is, right here…

Do you not see it?


	2. Chapter 1: Snow

There was snow. Everywhere. Small, white crystals joining together in a chilly waltz through the winter breeze. They shimmied past the long-deceased oak trees that surrounded the clearing. The sky was grey, nothing but a darkened abyss above the Earth. The horizon was invisible, hidden by the white-capped mountains in the distance.

The gentle breeze sped into a rough wind, plastering the snowflakes against the scraggly tree trunks. From behind one tree stepped a rather sorry-looking creature. His jersey was tattered and dirty with mud and dead leaves. There were holes in it, and it unraveled in some parts. The weary chipmunk shivered and did his best to keep the jersey around himself. He trudged to the middle of the clearing, then sank to his knees and lifted his head to the dark sky.

Snowflakes kissed his nose with frosty lips. The chipmunk closed his eyes and sighed. From behind him the crunch-crunch of another living being walking in the snow could be heard. The chipmunk kept his eyes closed, but his heart pounded as fear gripped it. A small trickle of sweat appeared on his brow. Those footsteps he knew all too well. He wanted to get away, but he found himself unable to stand, his strength gone.

The footsteps came up behind him, and then stopped. The chipmunk found the strength again, and turned to face this newcomer. He met his own face instead. This face, however, showed no kindness, no mercy – it was as cold as the biting wind now whipping around them. This chipmunk smirked evilly, and his eyes shone with mischief. The newcomer was also grey, except for his eyes, which gleamed red.

Soon the whole landscape turned grey, and the snow melted, and the other chipmunk disappeared. The chipmunk still on the ground noticed that, despite the lack of snow or ice, the ground was freezing and hard. It was also completely dry. Then he found himself falling, and staring at a swirling abyss of all shades of grey. It grew hot, then cold again, then hot again. And there was laughter, all around, echoing and going on forever and ever…

And there was cold…

Cold and grey…


	3. Chapter 2: Burns

His throat was dry. It felt as if his vocal chords would crack and sever with every swallow. He needed water, so badly. But there was no water here…was there? He couldn't tell.

**Don't be stupid.**

…Who are you?

**Are you stupid?**

No.

**Then you should know who I am.**

Well, who are you?

**Your ignorance does annoy me so.**

You aren't very nice.

**That means you aren't very nice, either.**

What?

**What would you think if you saw someone talking to their reflection?**

I don't know.

**Yes you do. If you would only think of the answer, it would come.**

I guess I'd think of them as strange.

**Do you think of yourself as strange?**

No.

**Then you gave me a dishonest answer.**

I don't understand a thing you're saying!

**That is because you have no right to.**

Who are you, and what do you want from me?

**Why would I want something that already belongs to me?**

What?

**Everything you possess is mine, also.**

But I don't know you.

**Yes you do. And I know you as well.**

Oh? What's my name?

**That I won't tell you.**

Because you don't know!

**I know your name perfectly, but I choose not to tell you now. What I also know is: you are a chipmunk, you have two brothers, you live with a man called Dave, and you have a crush on a female Chipette.**

How did you know that about me?

**Because I am you.**

What?

**Thank you for releasing me.**

His eyes flew open, and the young chipmunk let out a soul-shattering scream that filled the house. His throat burned, and the burning spread through him. Pain consumed every nerve in his body, and bright light filled his vision. He gripped the sides of his bed, and writhed in agony. His screams were bloodcurdling, but there was no-one there to hear them. No-one came to his rescue, and he fell unconscious in the grey light that enveloped his room.


	4. Chapter 3: Blood

He was sitting in a place he never thought he'd be. The principal had given him detention for something he never thought he'd do. He had never gotten detention before. He himself had almost no clue what had happened. She had been talking to him, just being friendly. Then the other voice had started. This voice had hatred in it, nothing but cold malice. It made him feel angry, and the next thing he knew, he had hit her, straight in the mouth. She began to cry, and her sisters yelled at him, and his brothers yelled at him, and he felt like screaming until his voice left him, but of course he couldn't.

So here he sat, staring at the shelves of the library where his detention was taking place. Through his eyes, all color had left the room, and there was nothing but grey. And the voice came again, striking his ears in hushed tones.

**Why did you do it?**

Leave me alone.

**Why did you do it? I thought she was your friend, your crush.**

Go away!

**You are pathetic. You cannot stop me from being here.**

Stop! Shut up!

**Why do you do such foolish things? Do you not know the difference from right and wrong?**

S-shut up! You make no sense!

**You have no right to understand. Understanding is something that you will never have.**

Leave me alone!

He closed his eyes tight and pressed his hands against his ears. He tried to shut the voice out, but it echoed in his ears, that cool laughter resounding again and again. In the darkness of his closed eyes, he could see two pinpricks of red. They gleamed with hatred, and began to drip down into crimson scratches. Red dripped from those scratches, dripped into his own eyes, and it burned his face oh so badly. The red dripped into his mouth, and he could taste metal, and he spat, but the taste remained.

He flung open his eyes, but instead of the library he only saw red, crimson shelves and staring faces. The faces all had red eyes and grinning mouths. They reached out to him, and their arms were bloody and decaying. They opened their mouths, and shadows dripped from them, charcoal figures blending with the red. He opened his mouth to scream, but the red flowed in, and the shadows flowed in, and grey sludge filled his mouth.

He was suffocating…

He needed air…

And laughter rang in his ears.


	5. Chapter 4: Grey

He opened his eyes slowly. His eyelids felt weighed down heavily, as if someone had covered them with lead. All he could see was bright, white light above him.

Am I dead?

**Not exactly.**

Where am I?

**I can't tell you.**

Why?

**If you don't know, then I don't know either.**

What happened to me?

**I am released. You let me take over.**

Take over what?

**Your mind. It is mine now.**

But if you are me, and I am you…

**Then was it not mine to begin with? You have good logic.**

I learned some things from my brothers.

**Perhaps that is true. Tell me, do you remember anything?**

I know that I have brothers, and I know that I live with Dave. I know that I have…had a crush on one girl, but I hurt her.

**Do you remember her name?**

I…don't.

**Do you remember your name?**

Did it start with an "M"?

**No.**

A "J"?

**No.**

I don't remember.

**Neither do I.**

Where are we?

**I told you, I don't know.**

I hear people…there's a man, and a woman talking…is that man Dave? Who is the woman? There's also a boy talking…he sounds so familiar…I'm so confused…

**I will tell you one thing. Your life is over.**

So I am dead?

**No. Your life is my life now.**

But you're me!

**For so long you trapped me, and kept me hidden. Now it's my turn. Night has fallen, and you must sleep.**

No…leave me alone!

**Sleep now…you've had your run. Go to sleep.**

No!

**Sleep…**

He writhed in pain, his body convulsing with every jolt. He gripped the white sheets, and he heard the man and woman's voices raise, and he heard something odd, like a heart monitor beeping nonstop. Smoky wisps melded together and formed another chipmunk in front of him. He had red eyes, and his fur was dark and dusty. He reached out his charcoal-colored tendrils and grabbed the frightened chipmunk before him. The grey chipmunk opened its mouth, revealing razor-sharp teeth and blood red gums. The other chipmunk screamed, but the sound was lost in a torturous laugh.

Everything grew dark…

His body ceased to convulse…

And he fell into a tunnel, full of darkness…

And the heart monitor sounded a monotonous tone, as long as the monochrome tunnel he had entered…

Cold, evil laughter blended with the monitor's tone…

As did loud sobs from his father and brothers…

They would soon be joined by three Chipettes…

A small shrine would be made in his room…

Just a little token of love from the family and friends who loved him so…

Yet he is still here, and screaming for release from this nightmare. He is here…do you not see him? Do you not hear his cries? The manifestation that had plagued him moved to a new being, ready to feast once again. The youngest chipmunk is no more, his soul stolen from him by the evil that haunts us all.

And the grey still continues…

It goes on forever.


End file.
